I Thought This Was A Common Transmigration

Chapter 152

18. Flashback (11)

But the Marchioness of Theroux cried too much.

When she heard that the boy was found at the slave auction, and that he must have suffered greatly, she almost fainted.

"This is going to get Sierra in serious trouble. I'll call a doctor to make sure Johann is okay, and I'll try to calm Sierra down."

The Emperor looked at Lizé as he calmed his brother and sister-in-law who had found their lost son.

"So, it was Lady Ludwig who found Johann?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. She said she stumbled upon him at a slave auction when she walked into the wrong place. Lizé saved Johann's life!"

Catherine emphasized the part that Lizé was Johann's savior.

Lizé waved her hand away. "It was a coincidence, I just helped him because I felt sorry for him, I didn't know any of this."

"Of course you didn't. It was a top secret matter."

The Emperor smiled and nodded. "I know you must be surprised, but your errand boy seems to be my nephew. Go home for now, I will contact you to reward you accordingly."

"My pleasure, Your Majesty."

Lizé bowed, confused but polite, and returned to the Ludwig mansion.

'Good. If things are going according to the original story, I'll be announced as a recipient of the Imperial Medal before Edith comes up.'

Once that happens, Lizé believed with an ironclad certainty that the Duke and Duchess, who had closed their hearts to her, and Cliff, would come back to her.

***

Five years ago, Marquis Theroux, the Emperor's youngest brother, and his wife, Sierra, suffered what felt like being torn limb from limb.

At an outdoor banquet at the palace, their beloved youngest son, Johann, had mysteriously disappeared.

At first, they thought the child must have wandered off and taken a wrong turn, so they focused their efforts on finding him inside the palace.

But when soldiers searching the gardens came up with nothing but Johann's shoes and clothes and a note that said, "If you speak of this, I will kill your son," they realized it was a kidnapping.

Anxiously, they waited to hear from the kidnappers, but to their horror, they didn't get any word for over a week.

Since then, Marquis Theroux and the Emperor had hired people to search for Johann, but they found no clues about the missing child.

Johann's disappearance was kept a secret for fear that ill-minded people would try to pull a scam or that Johann's kidnappers would harm him.

Then, after five long years, Lizé found him at a slave auction.

Marquis Theroux felt as if a stone that had been weighing him down had been lifted.

"My lord, he is well. His lack of memory of the past is more likely due to the trauma of his kidnapping than a head injury. Besides, five years is a long time for a child to forget the past."

He felt a pang of sadness at the doctor's words, but decided to be grateful that he was still in good health.

"And Sierra?"

"She's with Young Master Johann, talking to him."

"I see. She's been suffering the most."

A mother who had lost her young son, barely eight years old, must have been devastated.